“Isn't it funny how this book is kind of prophetic? Actually it’s not funny it’s scary. Not that I think one man will stop the world, but what the government can do when it interferes too much. Looking at the economy and the "bail out," government says we’ll bail out this bank but not that bank. Britain has partially nationalized its banks and France and Iceland soon to follow. Yikes! ”
“If the current crisis shows anything, it's that Laissez Faire capitalism is just as much of a failure as its diametrical opposite: let's not forget that this whole mess was created by a bunch of greedy bankers who were left to pursue their "enlightened self-interest" without any government interference. Heck, they've just handed each other another bunch of golden parachutes to profit as much as they can from the current crisis.I see the danger of putting too much power in the hands of too few people, whether they're politicians, bankers, or the CEO of some multi-national corporation. But putting LESS legal restraints on those who have the power and the money to turn the whole world into a sweat shop is certainly not the answer to that. ”
“Confessions, I'm currently only 300 pages into this book, and I thought the EXACT same thing...I'm reading on to discover exactly what our world may look like because of our recent "bail out", since we can't count on our history to tell us what the outcome of this fiasco may be (as we normally could, but this socialist act has NEVER happened in the US), I guess the second-best place to look is to a woman from 1959 who probably thought that something like that could never ever happen! Thanks for your insight, I was beginning to think I was the only one who noticed the parallels to the modern world.”
“It is amazing to me that this was written in the early 50s and yet so pertinent to today. You're right it is a bit scary when you face today's economy and all the government bailouts.”
“I recently reread this book for this very reason....it is so appropos. Jane the Bane, if you apply the premise of the book to today's situation, the bail out would not occur and those profiting from cutting corners or unscrupulous dealings rather than as a result of successful business practices would fail and be purged while profitable companies carried on. I always have problems in the beginning of the book because the characters are so rigid and extreme, but once I accept this is a needed to tool to fully explore Rand's philosophy I can settle into the read.”
